she is obsidian tangled in starlight,
there is chaos ever-present in her eyes
she is a fortress of memories
striving toward her revenge
she is a pillar of grace and compassion,
a foundation for lost souls to rest

there is an aura that follows her constantly,
an ever-present covenant with love
her laughter sparks new smiles yet
her eyes can create deathly silence
she is a hurricane of emotion, an
empress over those who seek her ruination

she was born into a world that would
soon forsake her and her paradise
she would rebuild her haven,
claw her path all the way to the top
she is a monument made of hidden sins
and a testimony against so-called saints

fate placed the world before her and whispered "what will you become?"
and she screamed back as her reality shattered "everything they never expected"

The world does not stop. It runs and spins and whirls. In a never ending cycle that continues from the beginning of a life to its end. The world breaths in and out; always growing, always changing. There is something both chaotic and peaceful in this world's immortality.

People do not stop. They run and rush and speed to no end. A person lives in an ever ending cycle. Birth, life, death. There is no repeat, no redo, and no restart. A human is a wonderfully complicated being. Some lie and cheat and steal for their own gain while others commit to the same sins in the name of others. People are selfish, greedy beings by nature. Their history repeats itself under their noses while they demand to know why they deserve such travesties. Then again, some people do see the mistakes in history. These are the people that fate treasures in a different way than the others. These are the people that are forced through catastrophes only to rise from the ashes like the phoenix of old. Yes... there is something intriguing and tragic in humanity's mortality.

The world blurs away as a sleek, black armored car speeds toward the blue, glass-like tower dominating the flaming skyline. Calloused fingers skim over another page and a sigh escapes her drying lips as she tucks the piece of paper back into a worn leather case. Her dark eyes do not focus on the world around her. Not the cars speeding by, honking at reckless drivers, and the people inside gesturing something awful at anyone passing by. Her eyes do not take in the sun rising over the horizon, not the gold-like yellows or the array of crimson and violet streaking through an ocean of blue. No, she does not see the world as it is, but her mind spins and runs and imagines the world that she is trying desperately to build.

The car pulls up to the entrance of the building and someone rushes to open the door and help the woman out of the car. A quiet "thank you" falls from her lips as she gently removes her hand from his and continues on into the skyscraper. Doors are pulled open before her and she rises up to the top in a shining elevator of untarnished silver. At the very top, she exits the elevator and enters her floor. The secretaries' desk has been abandoned as her most relied on pair of employees gather up the last things that she will need for the long day approaching.

Two wide oak doors swing toward her when she pulls them open with a satisfied grin taking its place on her lips as her eyes settle onto the city beyond the windows. The beaten leather case is dropped into the spinning chair behind the desk with her name scrawled onto the gold nameplate. CEO Rosalind Yinchen. She stands and looks out at the city, her home, and her smile grows. From where she stands she can see the hotels rising to meet the day's new light and the sun reaching her office as it does every day. Her eyes flutter shut and her smile grows as the sun bathes her in golden light.

This world is spread before her, always going and always changing. This city holds no secrets from her, she's forever seen it as a book left wide open. Her plans are spread before her, intricately created maps to this place and magnificent tapestries of ideas she can't wait to see come to life.

A shadow slips along in the obsidian-tinted night. The moon is a sliver in the skyline, a smidge of mystery gazing intently down. The shadow freezes at the snap of fabric against a brisk breeze running past the form of a man levitating in the sky. A cape swirls around his ankles in the wind and his eyes strain against the pressing darkness as a cloud overtakes the crescent in the sky. It seems too leaden, too quiet near this building rising toward the empty night. Then his watch beeps twice and his cape straightens as he rushes toward the close emergency.

The shadow grins on the skyscraper's wall at the disappearance of the caped hero. The voices in the shadow's ears confirm that she can continue with no interference from here. She nods to no one before looking up to the balcony above her and a smile grows as she backs up a step. The shadow leaps against the wall and lunges for the bottom bars the balcony and swings her feet forward until she's able to flip up and over the railing.

Quickly, she continues scaling up the tower before reaching the balcony she's been climbing toward. Whispering to the voices in her ears, the shadow confirms her position and the lock inside of the balcony doors blinks green and she slips into the penthouse complex. There isn't a sound in the building as the shadow cautiously makes her way up the stairs and down the hallway.

There's a thundering in her blood, a pounding in her chest as excitement and anticipation grows inside. Weeks and months of planning and preparation have led to this very moment. The study door is open wide, and she slips through the doorway.

"Freeze."

A man's voice cuts through the silence but the shadow doesn't stop in their plan. There will be no alternations in the plan tonight because this, this moment was expected. A grin paints the shadow's face as she turns toward the pudgy man holding a gun and a phone that hasn't hit call yet. The clouds move outside and the crescent in the sky filters a halo of stars around her form. The white and black mask over the shadow's face strikes terror into the man. Whispers of this shadow has been echoing through the chain of underworld monarchs such as himself. The two-faced demon, a robber of those who dare not take their losses to the police unless they wish to join their robber in a cell.

"Mr. Thawell, thank you for joining me this evening. You were right on time for our meeting."

The shadow before him cocks its' head, a cold filtered voice filling the silence. Her finger presses a button on his desk, two of the four piercing eyes of the masked shadow maintain eye contact as she locks them in the room together. Her attention turns back to the computer, a slim flash drive plugged into the hidden USB port. He babbles as the shadow before him continues rifling through his computer.

"St-stop! I, I'll call the police on you!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes!" He grins, not able to hear the sarcasm dripping from her tongue through the modulator, and believes that he's found an upper hand, "I've heard all about you from an inner circle "Chaos" and I do believe that I will be the last man you rob."

"I highly doubt that."

The shadow beckons the sixty-year-old man to the computer where they have taken a seat. Upon the screen, an algorithm already uploaded and going hard at work, are files upon files of illegal dealings. Drug rings, weapon resales, and worse.

The shadow stands, towering over the businessman, "I'll be taking whatever I like. And unless you want me to visit again," the muzzle of a hand-held gun is against his forehead before he can blink, "I suggest that you take my advice, stay quiet, and annul your little underworld partnerships before an anonymous tip to the police leads you to a less comfy bed."

And the man quakes under Chaos' shadow, slumping to his knees as he passes out from pure terror. The shadow fades away, slipping away as the sun first appears on the edge of the horizon miles and miles away. A golden thread against the world, sewing shut the past and beginning on a path to record the future as the golden thread finds its way over the city of heroes and underworld dealings.

This place, this place is always changing, always growing. The sky darkens and lightens, the sun rises and falls. The moon brings stars and storm, the earth cracks and reshapes itself at will.

This place, this place... oh, there are a million fates before this place and there is no sure way to know how this will end.

let me apologize, my darling, for all the pain sprinkled into your life. some of it came from me and i'll regret that for as long as i am alive

i know that some of the cracks in your heart are irreparable. i know that there are some wounds too deep to fix. but with every smile and every laugh, i see a little more of that girl you've talked so much about from your past

so let me apologize, my darling, for all the ghosts in your closet. i know that i didn't put them there, yet i ache each time a skeleton haunts you and i desperately wish i could bury them all away
— katie

ROSALIND QUINNITH YINCHEN
she/they — pansexual — chinese

KNOWN AS "CHAOS"
" i have never needed anyone since i was a child, so don't go and mistake my affection for dependence "
THE SHADOW OF SINNERS

LUCIEN ALEXI ENACHE
he/him — bisexual — romanian

KNOWN AS LUSTRO
" i recently found out something, and i want to take this chance before it disappears "
THE PUPPET CUTTING STRINGS

copyright / this is a work of fiction fully and completely created, plotted, and written by me, Katie, aka @vxllaxnly / dorkiest_nerd . it is illegal to take any of the quotes, writing, plot, and characters and their characterization from this book. you must ask permission to take inspiration from my writing, plot, characters, and layout.

the "to be despised" series has been inspired by several productions of DC, CW, Marvel, and Disney. several characters in this book have been inspired by many different characters from many different productions, however I have only taken inspiration for this world and characters and have not copied them in any form.

warnings / the "to be despised" series will continuously have very heavy, dark, and mature themes in it. please be wary of what could trigger you and what you cannot handle (if there is a chapter that discusses an incredibly heavy topic there will be a warning). warnings: murder, character death, s!icide, anxiety and depression, manipulation, violence, weapons, various types of abuse, and possibly more.

dedications / to all who have inspired and encouraged me throughout my life. for the gentle smiles and small nudges forward - I thank you all for the support and love you have always shown me!!

hecatespells  togrutas  girlofstarlight  -firestar  chloebelova  cruelsummer-  alyssas-angxls  Winter326  saturnsbluestar  Phxntom-Spider  silksabers cleovatras

author's note / THORNS OF A ROSE - an original book by me!! Thorns of a Rose is one of the many original plots that I have been nursing on paper and in my dreams for over sixth months. I have doc upon doc with pages upon pages of plot ideas, snippets of parts written, and character pages detailing everything in my character's lives. and now we need to go over some very important things that you all need to go before going into this!!

To Be Despised is set on an alternate earth and we begin in the year 3043. this world is more advanced in technology and this world is also a better place at first look. superheroes and supervillains already exist in this world worldwide.

the main place that this book is going to take place is called Anchor City. this city is home to most of leads, several important headquarters, and businesses. most of the things that happen in this book are going to happen in or around this city (which has been inspired by New York, Wakanda, and National City.

my main lead is Miss Rosalind Yinchen a Chinese woman who is the CEO of her own company during the day and the shadow known as "Chaos" at night. this book is going to follow her and her backstory as well as her future closely because Rose is kind of the foundation of everything that is going to come.

the
TO BE DESPISED
series

book one
THORNS OF A ROSE
"secrets, lies, and beginnings"

book two
DOUBLE SIDED COIN
"war, truths, and reveals"

book three
LITTLE TRAGEDIES
"youth, chaos, and bonding"

continuation to be announced

bonus / this book is really important to me, not only because of the plot and characters but because of everything about it!! there's going to be a majority of POC characters in this book AND a lot of the characters are also in the lgbtqia+ community!! I'll be writing some big and heavy stuff in this alongside the romance and action and mystery of everything. there are plenty of adults in this book but there are also teens and kids and college peeps and ahhh I hope that y'all fall in love with them as much as I do!!

and speaking of graphics... all graphics you have seen so far, aka in this chapter, we're made by me and you aren't allowed to steal any of them lmao. even the gifs at the beginning were heavily edited by me.

a GIANT thank you to Nola for beta reading!! ( hecatespells )

anyways!! I'm really looking forward to writing this book and seeing all of your reactions as the story progresses!!

I would love to know all of your thoughts and I'd love to answer any questions you have the book (so feel free to ask me lol)!!

thank you all so much for the support, love, votes, and comments!!

written records began: 09.16.2021
first published: 03.28.2022
completed: tbd